"This country has a zillion square miles of land that is not in a flood plain. Why not build there?"
... Because somebody else owns that high ground?
I bet the high ground around NOLA is dotted with McMansions. You notice you didn't see many rich people in the flood.
I think they should just pay the owners, scrape the flooded area and carpet the river with barges of dirt until there is a hill there. THAT will be valuable property that folks like Toll Bros, Lennar or Centex would be happy to develop for you.
